Planning Law Updates – Page 2
Dated, sourced explainers of NPPF revisions, new legislation, permitted development changes and case law.
Planning Law Updates articles – page 2
180 articlesIrreplaceable habitats and the biodiversity gain exception
Ancient woodland, veteran trees, blanket bog and other irreplaceable habitats sit outside the statutory biodiversity metric. The gain plan needs bespoke compensation agreed with the authority, and national policy still demands reasons of the highest order.
Plan making reform and what happens to emerging plans
Reform changes the machinery of plan making. The weight an emerging plan carries today still turns on stage, objections and consistency with national policy.
Commencement notices and the CIL amendment regulations
Miss the commencement notice and instalments fall away and a surcharge follows. Since 2019 the self-build exemption survives, which is not what older guidance says.
Air source heat pumps and permitted development limits
A heat pump at a house is usually permitted development, but the 42 decibel noise condition and the designated land rules catch a lot of installations.
Schedule 3 SuDS approval and where it stands
Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 has never been brought into force in England, though it has applied in Wales since 2019. What it would change, and how to design for either outcome.
The biodiversity gain condition on every permission
The biodiversity gain condition is deemed into the permission, so it will not appear on the decision notice. What the plan must contain, the exemption routes, and what happens if it is refused.
Ten year enforcement time limit and proving immunity
Every breach of planning control in England now carries a ten year enforcement time limit. The transitional treatment of earlier breaches, the exceptions, and the evidence a certificate application needs.
Section 73B applications to vary a permission
Section 73B was inserted to fix what section 73 cannot do, namely change the description of development. The test is whether the result is substantially different from what was permitted.
Permitted development rights and the prior approval trap
Several permitted development classes require prior approval before work starts, with deemed consent if the council does not respond in time. The trap is that the clock only runs on a complete application.
Overheating under Part O: the two assessment routes
Approved Document O gives two ways to show a new home will not overheat. The simplified method caps glazing and sets openable areas; dynamic modelling buys design freedom at the price of evidence.
Second staircases above 18 metres: the current expectation
Approved Document B expects a second staircase in new residential buildings above 18 metres. It is building regulations guidance, so the risk lands at Gateway Two, not at planning.
What the 2020 Use Classes reform did to retail policy
The 2020 amendment created Class E, inside which change of use is not development. Old conditions restricting units to Class A1 still bite, which is what most occupiers miss.
Gateways two and three: the programme effect after permission
Planning permission used to be the point at which a residential tower became a construction programme. For higher-risk buildings it is now the point at which a second approval process starts, with its own clock.
Electric vehicle charging: what needs permission
A wall box on a private drive is usually permitted development. A row of rapid chargers with a substation, a canopy and lighting is a development proposal, and the gap between the two is narrower than it looks.
Article 4 directions: the national tests for making one
An Article 4 direction removes a permitted development right for a defined area. The procedure, the evidence test and the compensation trap explain why councils use them sparingly and why the ones they do make tend to stick.
Class Q after the 2024 amendments: what changed
The May 2024 amendments doubled the number of dwellings Class Q allows and capped each at 150 square metres. The structural test and the designated land exclusions did not change.
Section 73B: the minor variation route and what it changes
Section 73B of the 1990 Act can vary the description of development, which section 73 cannot. What the substantially different effect test asks, and what to check before relying on it.
Reading the NPPF by policy code instead of paragraph number
Two citation changes in under three years have left most planning documents quoting paragraphs that no longer exist. Here is how to cite the Framework, and how to triage older reports.
Biodiversity net gain: which permissions escape the rules
The biodiversity gain condition attaches by reference to when the application was made, not when it was decided. Here are the commencement dates, the section 73 position and the five exemptions.
Local nature recovery strategies and what they do
Local nature recovery strategies are not development plan documents, but they change the biodiversity metric multiplier. That makes them a financial matter, not background.
Approved Document O and its two compliance routes
Approved Document O offers a tabulated simplified method and a TM59 modelling route. They are not calibrated to each other, so choose at concept stage.
The August 2026 NPPF and citing policy codes correctly
Paragraph 11(d) points at nothing in the current Framework. Here is how to convert citations from earlier editions and cite policy codes so a reader can check them.
The standard method for housing need after December 2024
From 12 December 2024 the standard method starts from existing housing stock rather than household projections, with a stronger affordability uplift and no cap.
Class ZA demolition and rebuild prior approval explained
Class ZA permits demolition of a detached block of flats or commercial building and a residential replacement within the same footprint. The limits explain why it is used so rarely.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope